Gigi Kruse Silva is a ten year veteran teacher from Carlmont High School in Belmont, Ca. She is a serial education activist, a former Exploratorium fellow, IISME fellow, and was recognized as teacher of the year by the California League of High Schools. Philosophy: Education is a right, not a privilege.
Nick is a nine year veteran public high school physics and chemistry teacher in Stockton Ca. He will begin a new position at the Stockton Collegiate International School this fall. He is an International Baccalaureate trained physics teacher, and a former NCAA division one swimmer. Philosophy: Do or do not. There is no try.
Sujatha has been teaching physical science at Rolling Hills Middle School for more than twenty years. She was an IISME fellow, and has received many accolades in her career. Philosophy: Children have to be educated, but they have also to be left to educate themselves. -Ernest Dimnet
Scott is a veteran classroom teacher of 10 years. He has been teaching Japanese and science at North Shoreview Montessori, a public k-8 school in San Mateo, California for the last three. Scott was an Exploratorium teacher fellow, and a runner up in the Iron Science Teacher competition. Philosophy: “Learning happens when teachers value students’ ideas, and leverage their motivation to engage them in creatively constructing an understanding of the world that is rooted in curiosity.”
Paul is a PhD candidate in physics at Stanford University and is the coordinator of the edtech working group on the Stanford campus. He has received the Paul Kirkpatrick teaching award and the Centennial teaching award for his teaching in the sciences. Philosophy: Educational research should inform what we do.
Allison teaches physics and chemistry at Sequoia High School with the Braincandy cofounders. She is a Knowles Science Teaching Fellow with both undergraduate and graduate degrees from Stanford University. Philosophy: “Only one person in a million becomes enlightened without a teacher's help.” -Bodhidarma
TEACHER FELLOWS
COFOUNDERS
Bryan Henderson is a PhD Candidate at Stanford University studying science education. His main interest is in the utilization of educational technology to put students more in charge of their own learning via effective formative assessment. As a co-founder and Research Director of NorCal EdTech, Henderson is working with teachers to make expensive educational technology applications freely accessible over the Internet. Henderson's scientific background is in astrophysics.
Jack West has been at Sequoia High School in Redwood City, CA for the last 14 years, where he has been recognized by the California League of High Schools and the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors as a Teacher of the Year for his innovative uses of technology in the classroom. He is a co-founder of NorCal EdTech, and on the Advisory Board for the New Media Consortium's Horizon Report for K12.
Ben Canning received both his teaching credential and M.A. in Teaching Physics through the Stanford Teacher Education Program (STEP), where he studied science literacy and techniques for teaching both EL students and heterogeneous classrooms. He is a NorCal EdTech co-founder and currently a physics teacher at Sequoia High School in Redwood City, CA.